Cemetery worker killed in wood chipper accident in New Jersey

A 22-year-old cemetery worker died in a wood chipper accident in New Jersey on Wednesday.

At around 6:20 p.m., police were called to St. Magdalen Cemetery in Flemington, where they discovered Eonias Mateo-Perez. He was pronounced dead at the scene, the Hunterdon County District Attorney’s Office said.

According to authorities, he suffered fatal injuries “while operating a tree chipper.”

The public prosecutor’s office and the Federal Authority for Safety and Health at Work are investigating the incident, but it is considered an accident and no third-party negligence is suspected.

According to OSHA, the man was an employee of William LaRue Services and had no history of violations with the agency.

Flemington is a community about 25 miles west of New Brunswick.